Exclusive: Watch the Kinetic New Naked Giants Music Video, “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)”

Naked Giants don’t really know what they’re about, and they’re okay with that. The rising trio from Seattle, Wash., dive deep into the nonsensical in the high-energy music video for their single “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows),” off their forthcoming album SLUFF, due out on March 30 via New West Records.

Per the band’s website, “sluff” is a word that can mean nothing or everything at once. It’s either slang for “the black stuff that comes off your shoe when it snows” or an acronym for South Lake Union Fuck Face, a derogatory reference to the “tech bros” who have “infiltrated” Seattle in recent years. Either way, the band incorporates this phrase into the Dadaist musical philosophies found in their forthcoming full-length debut, the follow-up to their 2016 debut EP R.I.P.

Last year, Naked Giants signed to New West Records, where they recorded SLUFF with the help of producer Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Unwound, Soundgarden). The 12-track set, at first glance, seems to be musical gibberish with an overarching theme, a loosely assembled collection of songs that don’t necessarily go together, yet somehow work. But that’s exactly the right contradiction that describes the three distinct personas that make up this one-of-a-kind band: Grant Mullen on guitar and vocals, Henry LaVallee on drums and Gianni Aiello as bassist and co-vocalist.

While the band seems to be weird and eccentric, it would be unfair to say that they’re just about having fun. The band members share a singularly millennial perspective about how to live their lives, with their collective musical influences and philosophies on time, life and everything in between bleeding into their music in obscure ways. Their new music video, directed by Sean Downey, shows just how trippy, worry-free and unique this band can be. In regards to the meaning behind their song and its new music video, Aiello had this to say:

“Everybody Thinks” is a song about how the truth can be found in nonsense, the profound can be found in simplicity. It’s a song about nothing in particular, but that makes it about everything. The music video is an exercise in the power of nothing—the idea is that a whole movement is started by a nonsense phrase and even the plot itself is repetitive and predictable. It also features “The Brainwasher,” a character of questionable origin and equally questionable relation to the plot.

Naked Giants exemplify everything we love about being young: the freedom, the playfulness and the energy of an entire generation, wrapped inside three musicians in their early 20s who want to make the most out of life. As part of their musical journey, Naked Giants have become members of Car Seat Headrest’s seven-piece live band, and will perform with Car Seat, as well as deliver their own sets, worldwide on an upcoming tour, starting with shows in Los Angeles and their hometown of Seattle. The band will also be appearing at SXSW in Austin on March 12-18.

Watch the Paste-exclusive video for “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)” below, followed by a 2017 Naked Giants performance from the Paste Cloud. You can find the band’s full tour slate beneath the SLUFF album cover and tracklist. The album is available for preorder on vinyl, CD or cassette here.